Wick, Kippering Houses

The traditional kippered-herring trade, as widely practised in Wick and the smaller Caithness ports during the 19th century, has now all but ceased, like the herring-fishing itself in that region. At its peak, however, during the middle decades of the century, the tall kipper-kilns of stone or timber, with their steeply pitched roofs and ridge ventilators, were familiar features, standing either as isolated units in the smaller harbours, such as Lybster, or clustered compactly together in Wick and its neighbouring ulteneytown. Only two working plants now survive in Wick, namely at the 'Steps' above Harbour Quay (ND 366506) and in Albert Street, Pulteneytown (ND 366510). Two earlier specimens, well-preserved but no longer in use, have also been noted; one is situated in Shore Street, Thurso (ND 119686) and the other in Bank Row, Wick (ND 365506), which now forms part of the town's Heritage Museum.

A detailed examination of the two working units in Wick, although in their present form dating only from the early years of this century, reveals all the traditional elements of a typical kippering-plant. The principal buildings included facilities for preparing the fish (the fish-house or splittingshed), usually with a loft above for packing the kippers and making up boxes, one or more kilns communicating directly with the fish-house, and desirably a yard for storage and a cart.

The 'Steps' example is a small unit with a one- and a two-void kiln, but in other respects it follows the customary process, which consisted of splitting the fish, washing and pickling it, hanging it on tenter-sticks, and then smoking it in the kiln, after which it was cooled on racks and then packed. The tenter-sticks for hanging the fish in the kiln were typically 3 ft 9 in (1.14m) to 4 ft (1.22m) long by about 1 1/2 in (38mm) by 1 in (25mm) in section, fitted with sharp angled hooks arranged in eight pairs along each side. The actual tentering operation took place over a trough fitted with a notched upright at each end to hold the tenter-stick, The Albert Street unit, although far less complete, was originally much larger and housed four two-void kilns. Like the other example cited, they appear to have conformed to a fairly standard pattern and serve to illustrate a typical kiln.

The kiln was approximately 8 ft (2.44m) in width and up to 18ft (5.49m) in length, and about 20ft (6.10m) to the wall-head. Its length was subdivided into two voids by a timber-framed partition supported on a beam about 7 ft (2.13m) above the floor. Solid dividing walls between adjacent kilns, of brick or stone, were built to about the same height and then continued upwards as a close-boarded partition into the roof space. Horizontal rails (stringers) spaced at 1 ft (0.31 m) centres were affixed to the opposing wall-surfaces for resting the full tenter-sticks. The kiln floors were of brick, and the door at the end of each kiln was halved across so that the hinged portions could be opened independently in order to regulate the draught in conjunction with the roof ventilator, built along the ridge and equipped with hinged doors. The outer walls of the building were usually of stone carried up to the wall-head, or gave way to timber cladding at about the 7 ft (2.13m) void line. In order to fill a kiln with the tentered fish, and likewise to strip it after smoking, the 'smoker' climbed up and down the horizontal rails. The smoking process usually took from six to twelve hours, and consisted of burning successive piles of oak chips and sawdust, carefully measured in baskets and disposed in rows of three beneath each void.

A kiln of a domestic scale, situated on the grassy plain at the head of Lybster harbour has also been noted (ND 245348). Probably used for smoking finnan haddock and herring, it is built against the gable of a former dwelling within the walls of a roofless outhouse. It measures 7 ft (2.13m) by 3ft (0.91m) internally, and although of rudimentary construction it incorporates all the features of the commercial kiln: a solid floor (of flagstones) and a dwarf wall with timber-clad frame above, fitted with a number of rails for tenter-sticks, and a ridge ventilator on the pitched roof.

Information from ‘Monuments of Industry: An Illustrated Historical Record’, (1986).